NEW ZEALAND RAILWAY STEAM 4
The Palmerston North depot was home to a quota of locomotive classes “K”, “Ab”, “A”, “Aa” and “Bb”. There were Daily visits of “Wabs” and the occasional “X” from Taihape. In my second year through 1939 in Palmerston North the stable was joined by the new “Ka” and “J” class locomotives. Counting the Taihape “Wg” and the new “Kas” and “Js” I worked on ten classes during my relatively brief stay on the NZR. The following chart gives some vital statistics of those. In my time all except the “Wg” were superheated. The “As” and “Xs” were four cylinder compounds. Some of both classes were rebuilt as simple expansion after WW2 but I had moved to other fields.
Class Number built Years built Wheel arrange-ment Weight Tons Cylinders B & S
Inches Wheel
Dia.
Inches Grate
Area
Sq. ft. Boiler
Press
PSI Tractive
Effort
85% BP
Pounds
A 58 1906-1914 4-6-2 78.2 12 x 22
19 x 22 54 30 225 21250
X 18 2907-1915 4-8-2 94 13.5 x 22
22 x 22 45 37.1 230 29168
Wg 20 1910-1912 4-6-4T 50.5 14 x 22 45 16.9 200 16289
Aa 10 1914 4-6-2 88.7 18 x 24 49 33 180 24280
Bb 30 1915-1918 4-8-0 69 17 x 22 42.5 16.8 175 22253
Ab 141 1915-1925 4-6-2 84.7 17 x 26 54 33 180 21289
Wab 30 1917-1927 4-6-4T 71.5 17 x 26 54 33 200 23655
K 30 1932-1935 4-8-4 140 20 x 26 54 47.7 200 32740
Ka 35 1938-1950 4-8-4 145 20 x 26 54 47.7 200 32740
J 40 1939-1940 4-8-2 110 18 x 26 54 39 200 26520
I have mentioned some of the characteristics of the 1930s “K” and the earlier “X” class locomotives. In between these were various vintages well represented in numbers for a system the size of that operating in New Zealand. Still in service into the near final days of steam were 58 “A” class compound Pacifics built from 1906 through to 1914. Like their contemporary freight hauling “Xs” they were DeGlen compounds. Inside HP 12” X 22” cylinders drove the cranked front axle and outside LP 19” x 22” cylinders drove the second set of wheels. They had 4’- 6” diameter drivers and with the inside and outside cranks on each side arranged 180 degrees apart rode remarkably well at express speeds. As with the “X” class engines there were separate sets of Walscheart”s valve gear for the HP and LP cylinders adjusted by separate reversing levers. The drivers usually worked them with the HP lever notched up slightly closer than the LP lever. Some drivers even left the LP valves at full travel. Operation of the levers on the “As” was reasonably light but adjustments on the “Xs” required a man’s full strength. When topping a grade to avoid shoulder and back injury the drivers tripped the latch and let them go clunk to the front of the quadrant, then it was one foot braced against the quadrant to haul them up to resume steaming. They were hard work when used for yard shunting and train marshalling.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
NEW ZEALAND RAILWAY STEAM
I applied for transfer that was duly granted to Palmerston North where I was back on my home ground, old associates, proximity to the west coast beaches and it was more interesting working over the variety of rail routes. The centre served the main trunk line north and south, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Foxton lines. My duty roster placed me on goods, mixed goods and passenger and the Wairarapa mail trains and the secondary expresses that ran between Palmerston North and Napier and Palmerston North and Wellington.
It is only natural that incidents occur on such a highly mobile job as locomotive running. Cattle beasts get onto the track and escape if they are lucky. Not so lucky were about twenty sheep out of a large flock that was half way across a road crossing near Ormondville on the Hawke's Bay line. Rounding a blind curve with an express train sent sheep bowling in all directions. What a lot of spare ribs!
A horrendous fright was given to a track maintenance gang between Palmerston North and Ashhurst. We were running an extra train of empty fruit wagons back to Napier. Because these seasonal specials ran somewhat erratic timetables a track maintenance crew thought it reasonable to ride their motor jigger back to Palmerston North, but we met on a blind curve and just before the impact all four men leapt into the comparative safety of the track-side blackberry bushes. The jigger was only fit to rake up and put into a skip bin. The men were badly scratched but not bent. On another occasion we had a near miss from the stuff that nightmares are made of. This was again on the Napier line. We were to meet and pass a train at Ashhurst. The opposing train had already left Woodville before we had left Palmerston North so we were held. But the ex Napier did not arrive, it had plowed into a slip that had fallen and covered the north end of the first tunnel at the south end of the Manawatu gorge. Had timings been a few minutes different we would have met the slip from inside the tunnel. As it was, the other engine nosed up the toe of the slip and eleven wagons of goods toppled into the river. The tunnel now has an extended concrete portal.
A memorable event occurred soon after the outbreak of WW2. I was the fireman on a troop train for the Palmerston North/Wellington leg of the journey that had started from New Plymouth. On board was the Taranaki contingent en route to embark on one of the troop ships that conveyed our forces to the European theatre of war. While we attached our freshly serviced locomotive some thirsty troops took the opportunity to replenish their supplies of liquor from the row of obliging hotels adjacent to the railway station. We rolled smartly through Longburn, Linton, Tokomaru, Makerua, Shannon and Koputaroa. At Levin we were unexpectedly signalled to stop at the north end of the station. There was a police presence and backed up to the platform was an ambulance with attendant medical staff and stretcher at the ready. They converged on the carriage next to the engine to meet a bevy of soldiers half carrying and half propelling a vigorously protesting member of their company nursing a hand and arm swathed in blood saturated bandages. It turned out that immediately after passing through Makerua the train guard was made aware of something wrong when a party of soldiers invaded the guard's van and commandeered the entire kit from the first aid cabinet. We learned that the injured man was seen by the Makerua tablet porter as we sped past to extend his arm out of the open window and strike the tablet exchanger. The attendant assessed the mishap and communicated with train control that notified the Levin Station Master who passed the information on to the Levin Police who set up the emergency action. The soldier was taken to hospital and we resumed the journey to arrive at Wellington 2¼ hours after departing from Palmerston North. Three months later it was my turn as a volunteer to sail to the Middle East to serve as a member of the 16th Railway Operating Company in North Africa but that is a story later in the narrative.
I applied for transfer that was duly granted to Palmerston North where I was back on my home ground, old associates, proximity to the west coast beaches and it was more interesting working over the variety of rail routes. The centre served the main trunk line north and south, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Foxton lines. My duty roster placed me on goods, mixed goods and passenger and the Wairarapa mail trains and the secondary expresses that ran between Palmerston North and Napier and Palmerston North and Wellington.
It is only natural that incidents occur on such a highly mobile job as locomotive running. Cattle beasts get onto the track and escape if they are lucky. Not so lucky were about twenty sheep out of a large flock that was half way across a road crossing near Ormondville on the Hawke's Bay line. Rounding a blind curve with an express train sent sheep bowling in all directions. What a lot of spare ribs!
A horrendous fright was given to a track maintenance gang between Palmerston North and Ashhurst. We were running an extra train of empty fruit wagons back to Napier. Because these seasonal specials ran somewhat erratic timetables a track maintenance crew thought it reasonable to ride their motor jigger back to Palmerston North, but we met on a blind curve and just before the impact all four men leapt into the comparative safety of the track-side blackberry bushes. The jigger was only fit to rake up and put into a skip bin. The men were badly scratched but not bent. On another occasion we had a near miss from the stuff that nightmares are made of. This was again on the Napier line. We were to meet and pass a train at Ashhurst. The opposing train had already left Woodville before we had left Palmerston North so we were held. But the ex Napier did not arrive, it had plowed into a slip that had fallen and covered the north end of the first tunnel at the south end of the Manawatu gorge. Had timings been a few minutes different we would have met the slip from inside the tunnel. As it was, the other engine nosed up the toe of the slip and eleven wagons of goods toppled into the river. The tunnel now has an extended concrete portal.
A memorable event occurred soon after the outbreak of WW2. I was the fireman on a troop train for the Palmerston North/Wellington leg of the journey that had started from New Plymouth. On board was the Taranaki contingent en route to embark on one of the troop ships that conveyed our forces to the European theatre of war. While we attached our freshly serviced locomotive some thirsty troops took the opportunity to replenish their supplies of liquor from the row of obliging hotels adjacent to the railway station. We rolled smartly through Longburn, Linton, Tokomaru, Makerua, Shannon and Koputaroa. At Levin we were unexpectedly signalled to stop at the north end of the station. There was a police presence and backed up to the platform was an ambulance with attendant medical staff and stretcher at the ready. They converged on the carriage next to the engine to meet a bevy of soldiers half carrying and half propelling a vigorously protesting member of their company nursing a hand and arm swathed in blood saturated bandages. It turned out that immediately after passing through Makerua the train guard was made aware of something wrong when a party of soldiers invaded the guard's van and commandeered the entire kit from the first aid cabinet. We learned that the injured man was seen by the Makerua tablet porter as we sped past to extend his arm out of the open window and strike the tablet exchanger. The attendant assessed the mishap and communicated with train control that notified the Levin Station Master who passed the information on to the Levin Police who set up the emergency action. The soldier was taken to hospital and we resumed the journey to arrive at Wellington 2¼ hours after departing from Palmerston North. Three months later it was my turn as a volunteer to sail to the Middle East to serve as a member of the 16th Railway Operating Company in North Africa but that is a story later in the narrative.
Friday, November 13, 2009
NEW ZEALAND RAILWAY STEAM 2
At five months from start I was tested on signals and signalling and promoted to acting fireman on the station yard-shunting engine. Four months on the shunt engine took me to nine months service when I was put through the fireman's exam. This was a one day paper on signals, signalling, locomotive boilers and engine running gear and lubrication. Also, oral questions around a locomotive. I was allocated to duties as a main line fireman on goods and mixed passenger trains from Taihape south to Marton Junction and Taihape north to National Park with some trips as far as Raurimu and Oio.
In the beginning I found this an interesting learning curve. One learned the road, the up and down grades and not to be occupied with stoking while rounding curves to the fireman's side. One became attuned to the engine's demands for fuel and water, learned to see the condition of the fire through the brilliance of the furnace and developed night vision. One learned the locations of the signals, tunnels, and road crossings, turnout points at station sidings, tablet exchangers and the idiosyncrasies of the different engine drivers. An outstanding memory of a driver for whom I fired for some weeks was the late Charles Parker who was to go to his untimely death in the Tangiwai bridge disaster. He was a very alert and helpful engine-man. Something must have diverted his attention on that ill-fated night. Another bright star in my memory was Jas. Evans. He handled his engines with panache and liked to bowl them along reveling in their power. He was reputed to be at one with the phases of the moon and certainly displayed exuberance on bright moonlit nights.
Of the locomotives based upon the Taihape depot were four of the “K” class 4-8-4 tender engines that wheeled the Auckland-Wellington expresses and through freight trains over the Taumarunui-Palmerston North section. Three “Wab” class 4-6-4 tank engines worked mainly mixed goods and passenger trains between Ohakune and Palmerston North. Two “Ab” class Pacific types performed similar work. Five “X” class 4-8-2 tender engines worked goods between Ohakune and Marton Junction. One class “Wg” 4-6-4 tank engine shunted the Taihape station yard. Locomotives from Taumarunui in the north and Palmerston North in the south were turned and serviced for their return workings.
The actual work of firing any of these locomotives was not difficult or hard apart from the vibration and noise. The killer was the night work and irregular working hours. Most of the central north island consists of about ten or twelve mile sections of steep grades that test the locomotives but they are loaded accordingly and for every up-grade there is a down grade so power demand is not continuous. It is well known that no two engines perform identically but in general they responded in predictable ways. The “Ks” were the newest engines then having been built in the 1930s. They weighed 140 tons and had 47.7 square feet of grate area that was easily manageable. The boiler pressure was 200 PSI and the cylinders were 20” x 26”. The driving wheels were 4’-6” diameter. The tractive effort was 32,740 pounds. They ran smoothly enough when new or fresh after overhaul but soon developed wear in their driving axle-boxes, connecting rod big ends and coupling rod bearings so spent most of their working lives clanking monstrously. A person could be forgiven for thinking that they had square wheels. The preceding heavy haulers in the central North Island were the “X” class that were 4-8-2 De Glen compounds built between 1907 and 1915. The HP cylinders 13½” X 22” were inside the frames and drove the leading axle that was cranked. The outside LP 22” x 22” drove the second axle via the conventional crankpins. The driving wheels were 45” diameter and they were restricted to a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour. Anything over that the crew got a rough vertical ride that gave these engines the appellation “Buck Xs”. The rear section of the fire grate was flat immediately above the fourth drivers while the front half sloped steeply down between the third and fourth drivers. A line of site projected from the sloping section aligned with the top edge of the fire hole so the fireman had to be canny in judging the condition of the fire on that section and usually resorted to feeling it with the rake.
At five months from start I was tested on signals and signalling and promoted to acting fireman on the station yard-shunting engine. Four months on the shunt engine took me to nine months service when I was put through the fireman's exam. This was a one day paper on signals, signalling, locomotive boilers and engine running gear and lubrication. Also, oral questions around a locomotive. I was allocated to duties as a main line fireman on goods and mixed passenger trains from Taihape south to Marton Junction and Taihape north to National Park with some trips as far as Raurimu and Oio.
In the beginning I found this an interesting learning curve. One learned the road, the up and down grades and not to be occupied with stoking while rounding curves to the fireman's side. One became attuned to the engine's demands for fuel and water, learned to see the condition of the fire through the brilliance of the furnace and developed night vision. One learned the locations of the signals, tunnels, and road crossings, turnout points at station sidings, tablet exchangers and the idiosyncrasies of the different engine drivers. An outstanding memory of a driver for whom I fired for some weeks was the late Charles Parker who was to go to his untimely death in the Tangiwai bridge disaster. He was a very alert and helpful engine-man. Something must have diverted his attention on that ill-fated night. Another bright star in my memory was Jas. Evans. He handled his engines with panache and liked to bowl them along reveling in their power. He was reputed to be at one with the phases of the moon and certainly displayed exuberance on bright moonlit nights.
Of the locomotives based upon the Taihape depot were four of the “K” class 4-8-4 tender engines that wheeled the Auckland-Wellington expresses and through freight trains over the Taumarunui-Palmerston North section. Three “Wab” class 4-6-4 tank engines worked mainly mixed goods and passenger trains between Ohakune and Palmerston North. Two “Ab” class Pacific types performed similar work. Five “X” class 4-8-2 tender engines worked goods between Ohakune and Marton Junction. One class “Wg” 4-6-4 tank engine shunted the Taihape station yard. Locomotives from Taumarunui in the north and Palmerston North in the south were turned and serviced for their return workings.
The actual work of firing any of these locomotives was not difficult or hard apart from the vibration and noise. The killer was the night work and irregular working hours. Most of the central north island consists of about ten or twelve mile sections of steep grades that test the locomotives but they are loaded accordingly and for every up-grade there is a down grade so power demand is not continuous. It is well known that no two engines perform identically but in general they responded in predictable ways. The “Ks” were the newest engines then having been built in the 1930s. They weighed 140 tons and had 47.7 square feet of grate area that was easily manageable. The boiler pressure was 200 PSI and the cylinders were 20” x 26”. The driving wheels were 4’-6” diameter. The tractive effort was 32,740 pounds. They ran smoothly enough when new or fresh after overhaul but soon developed wear in their driving axle-boxes, connecting rod big ends and coupling rod bearings so spent most of their working lives clanking monstrously. A person could be forgiven for thinking that they had square wheels. The preceding heavy haulers in the central North Island were the “X” class that were 4-8-2 De Glen compounds built between 1907 and 1915. The HP cylinders 13½” X 22” were inside the frames and drove the leading axle that was cranked. The outside LP 22” x 22” drove the second axle via the conventional crankpins. The driving wheels were 45” diameter and they were restricted to a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour. Anything over that the crew got a rough vertical ride that gave these engines the appellation “Buck Xs”. The rear section of the fire grate was flat immediately above the fourth drivers while the front half sloped steeply down between the third and fourth drivers. A line of site projected from the sloping section aligned with the top edge of the fire hole so the fireman had to be canny in judging the condition of the fire on that section and usually resorted to feeling it with the rake.
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